Get in on the act

As hard as it might be to believe, Jay Chou Jie-lun is proving to be quite a decent film director. The 34-year-old did well with 2007’s hit romance Secret, and he’s doing it again with the upcoming The Rooftop, the second film he both directs and stars in.

It is a surprising development, especially when you take into account the decidedly mixed reception the Taiwanese singersongwriter has met with since his acting debut in Initial D in 2005.

While his music releases have firmly established him as a giant in Chinese music – his 2006 album sold an impressive 3.6 million copies across Asia – Chou’s critics are ruthless about his acting skills or, as some put it, the complete lack of them.

Whether he’s taking part in high-profile projects like Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) and Michel Gondry’s The Green Hornet (2011), or embarrassing turkeys like Taiwanese director Chu Yenping’s Kung Fu Dunk (2008) and The Treasure Hunter (2009), Chou’s inexpressive demeanour has attracted scorn, and accusations he is playing versions of himself.

Chou doesn’t seem to be remotely bothered by the accusation.

“We’re about 90 per cent alike,” he acknowledges, when I ask him to compare his own personality with his character in The Rooftop. “Just as you can find the ‘Chou style’ in my music, I hope you can see it in my films too,” he says.